Helit Kft has been a major player in Budapest’s hospitality industry for 30 years, providing key ingredients to feed hungry locals. Before the coronavirus epidemic, they provided more than 100,000kg of goods a day, distributed around Budapest and surrounding areas – delicious dinners in fine restaurants, school meals for children and even your favourite hamburger.
Until now, Helit has been a professional-to-professional operation, an invisible army so that we the consumers can enjoy food made from the highest-quality and finest ingredients possible.
Now, however, in view of the epidemic situation, the possibility of shopping has been opened up to private individuals as well.
Here's what they said about this exciting new initiative:
We Love Budapest: Let’s start at the very beginning. So far, you are not a well-known name among the general public. Please tell us a little about yourselves!
Helit: We have been present on the Budapest market since 1991 as a completely Hungarian-owned food wholesaler. Indeed, private consumers have not really been able to hear about us so far, although they have probably come across raw ingredients that we have supplied to their favourite restaurants. The reason for this is that our customers are mostly hotels, restaurants, buffets, and adult and children’s catering kitchens in and around Budapest. We serve them with almost everything chefs may need in the kitchen: fresh and frozen meat, fish, dairy products, frozen vegetables and fruit, baked goods, dry goods and non-food products.
WLB: Why did you choose to offer your services to private individuals?
Helit: As with everyone in Hungary and the world, our market is greatly affected by the epidemic. Most of our existing partners have been forced to close their catering units, but our warehouses are full of top-quality goods. These high-grade ingredients are normally used by professional chefs and chefs in hotels, restaurants and cafés around Budapest.
Now, however, as part of a sweep of stock, individuals can also buy from us at extremely discounted wholesale prices.
Although we are not a supermarket, our customers can still find everything they would like for simple everyday shopping.
In addition, to cater to private individuals, more and more of our bulk products can already be obtained from us in small packages.
WLB: How do we as individual shoppers buy from you?
Helit: As we do not have a retail unit, after a quick registration, customers can order from us through webshop.helit.hu (Hungarian-only), where they can choose from more than 3,000 items. To support the Stay Home! initiative, we also deliver the ordered goods to your home under safe conditions. And what is very important is that you can receive your order within 24 hours!
